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Music with a Year of Study Abroad

  • BMus
  • 4 Years
  • Full-time with time abroad
  • 28 September 2026
  • Undergraduate
Main Site - Cardiff
Awarded by:
Cardiff University (Prifysgol Caerdydd)
More about Cardiff University

Course options

2025-20262026-2027
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Course summary

Our undergraduate courses allow you to specialise and develop your own musical interests whilst acquiring a solid, broad-based education in aesthetics, analysis, composition, ethnomusicology, music history and performance.

The BMus is the ideal choice if you would like to concentrate on music. Of all our courses it offers the most in-depth study, allowing you to spend all your time specialising and studying music. It also enables you to take the specialist 30-credit options of Composition and / or Public Recital in year three (options which are not available on our BA or BSc courses).

Home to the arts, Cardiff is a great location for the study of music in the UK. The city has a professional opera company, Welsh National Opera, and a professional symphony orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. The School of Music enjoys a fruitful relationship with both organisations that allows, for instance, students to attend dress rehearsals and buy cut-price tickets for concerts.

We offer a number of instrumental and vocal entrance scholarships. You do not need to apply for these scholarships as you will be automatically considered when applying through UCAS. Visit the School of Music’s website for more information.

You are expected to have gained or shown evidence of working towards Grade 8 in one or more instruments or voice at the time of your application. You may be considered if you are not taking A-level Music but have Grade 8 Practical and Grade 7/8 Theory and are studying appropriate subjects at A-level.

For the year of study abroad you will take modules in music and possibly other subjects that relate to those in your Cardiff degree programme, with opportunities to develop further one or more pathways in composition, historical/critical musicology, performance, music analysis, and/or ethnomusicology. At a host university it is likely that you will gain different perspectives and approaches to a pathway already started and will have, in addition, the possibility of choosing subject areas that are unavailable at Cardiff. The programme aims to provide an important stepping-stone to a more specialized project in the final year, when you return to your final year of study at Cardiff.

Distinctive features

The distinctive features of the course include:

  • instrumental tuition which is fully funded by the School of Music on your principal study instrument

  • Business of Music modules which offer a short work placement

  • composition workshops, performance masterclasses, the University concert series, the John Bird lectures presented by visiting academics and the careers talks which provide many opportunities for contact with active music professionals

  • major composition and public recital options in year three

Ways to study this course

Campuses

  • Main Site - Cardiff

Study options

  • BMus • Full-time with time abroad • 4 Years

Start dates

  • 28 September 2026

Apply by
14 January

This is the equal consideration deadline. You can still apply after this date, but your application may not receive guaranteed consideration.

Application codes

Course code:
G85D
Institution code:
C15
Campus name:
Main Site - Cardiff
Campus Code:
-
Points of Entry:
Year 1

How to apply

Apply by
14 January

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Course code:
G85D
Institution code:
C15
Campus name:
Main Site - Cardiff
Campus Code:
-

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1

Open days

Entry requirements

UCAS Tariff Not accepted

A level AAB - BBB

Including Music.

Applicants without an A-level in Music will be considered on a case-by-case basis to determine appropriate levels of music performance and theory skills (such as Grade 6/7 Music Theory).

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016) DDD - DDM

in a BTEC Extended Diploma in Music.

Applicants without a BTEC in Music will be considered on a case-by-case basis to determine appropriate levels of music performance and theory skills (such as Grade 6/7 Music Theory).

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme 34 - 31 points

34-31 overall or 666-665 in 3 HL subjects. Must include grade 6 in HL Music.

Applicants without HL Music will be considered on a case-by-case basis to determine appropriate levels of music performance and theory skills (such as Grade 6/7 Music Theory).

Applicants without HL Music will be considered on a case-by-case basis to determine appropriate levels of music performance and theory skills (such as Grade 6/7 Music Theory).

Welsh Baccalaureate - Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate (last awarded Summer 2024)

The Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate will be accepted in lieu of one A Level at the A Level grades specified, excluding any subject specific requirements.

Extended Project A

For applicants taking the EPQ qualification, an A in the EPQ can be recognised to lower the entry requirements by a single grade. For example an AAB offer would be “AAB from 3 A levels or ABB from 3 A levels and a grade A in the EPQ”. Please note that any subject specific requirements must be met.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

You must have or be working towards:

  • English language or Welsh language at GCSE grade C/4 or an equivalent (such as A-levels). If you require a Student visa, you must ensure your language qualification complies with UKVI requirements.
  • GCSE Maths grade C/4 or equivalent qualification (subject and grade). If you are taking A-level Maths (or equivalent), GCSE Maths is not required. Core Maths may also be accepted in place of GCSE Maths.

T Level

Acceptance of T Levels for this programme will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Academic School. Consideration will be given to the T Level grade/subject and grades/subjects achieved at GCSE/Level 2.

After you apply, we will invite you to attend one of five audition and interview days, which are held from November to February.

At the audition
Auditions are conducted by members of staff. We will ask you to sing or perform on your principal instrument for about five minutes. You can choose your repertoire, and we will base our assessment of your performance on overall expressive and technical standards.

A short interview will follow in which we may ask you about the music you performed, your musical interests and experience. The aim isn’t to test your factual knowledge or judge your likes and dislikes; our interviews allow us to get to know you better and give you the opportunity to ask questions and show us what you’re interested in.

English language requirements

All applicants are expected to have demonstrable English language skills. Most courses ask for GCSE English grade C/4 or equivalent, but some courses ask for GCSE English grade B/6 or equivalent.

To find out more, please go to: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/international/english-language-requirements/undergraduate

Contextual admissions

Universities and colleges consider more than grades when assessing applications and may make offers based on a range of criteria. Learn more about contextual offers.

At Cardiff we welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, as part of this our contextual admissions policy aims to widen participation and improve access to Higher Education (HE).

For more information on Cardiff University contextual admissions, including how applications are scored and how we use that score, please see our website.

Learn more on the Cardiff University website

Historical entry grades data

This section shows the range of grades that students who received offers were previously accepted on to this course with (learn more).

It is designed to support your research but does not guarantee whether you will or won't get a place.

Admissions teams consider various factors, including interviews, subject requirements, and entrance tests. Check all course entry requirements for eligibility.

Not enough data available

We are unable to show previous accepted grades for this course. This could be because the course is new, it's a postgraduate course, there isn't enough historical data, or the provider has opted out of sharing their entry grades data for this course - learn more.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

Per year tuition fees

LocationFeeYear

Tuition fee status depends on a number of criteria and varies according to where in the UK you will study. For further guidance on the criteria for home or overseas tuition fees, please refer to the UKCISA website.

Additional fee information

Students from the UK and Islands:

Fees stated are for the 2025/26 academic year. The University reserves the right to increase tuition fees in the second and subsequent years of a course as permitted by law or Welsh Government policy. Where applicable we will notify you of any change in tuition fee by the end of June in the academic year before the one in which the fee will increase.

Fees for entry in subsequent years are subject to increase and will be confirmed by the end of October in the year preceding your start date of your programme, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Tuition fees cover all reasonable costs required for you to complete to the degree programme stated. Please note that you may choose to participate in study trips, associated placements or purchase equipment while studying on your degree programme which will be at your own cost. Tuition fees do not include living costs such as accommodation, subsistence or travel.

Students from the EU, EEA, and Switzerland:

If you are an EU/EEA/Swiss national, unless you qualify for UK fee status, tuition fees for 2025/26 will be in line with the fees charged for international students. You can check whether you are eligible for UK (Home) fee status on the UKCISA website: https://www.ukcisa.org.uk/Information--Advice/Fees-and-Money/Wales-HE-fee-status#layer-6099

Students from the rest of the world (international):

Fees stated are for 2025/26 entry and are fixed for the duration of the programme, excluding Medicine and Dentistry programmes. Please note that during the pre-clinical element of Medicine and Dentistry programmes the fee rate will be fixed, after which the clinical fee rate will be charged. Further details are available on the university website at: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/international/funding-and-fees

Fees for entry in subsequent years are subject to increase and will be confirmed by the end of October in the year preceding your start date of your programme, or as soon as possible thereafter.

Tuition fees cover all reasonable costs required for you to complete the degree programme stated. Please note that you may choose to participate in study trips, associated placements or purchase equipment while studying on your degree programme which will be at your own cost. Tuition fees do not include living costs such as accommodation, subsistence or travel.

Sponsorship information

Cardiff University has many scholarships on offer to our prospective students. Please see our website at http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/funding/scholarships for further information.

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